Checkmate
by xx.cityofangel
Summary: Slow and steady wins the race, but only when you're incredibly lucky. Just when they were about to reach the top, Ed discovers the secret to Human Transmutation. Royai. CHAPTER SEVEN; WHITE TO BLACK.
1. Human Transmutation

_Disclaimer: _No, I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, but if anyone was willing to sell it to me I do have a couple of dollars in my pocket..

_Summary: _Slow and steady wins the race, but only when you're incredibly lucky. When Ed discovers the secret to Human Transmutation, Roy and his team's mission of reaching the top is thrown off track. But when the higher ups, and even the Fuhrer get involved, the situation is quickly thrown into disorder and turned into a struggle for power.

_Author's Note: _First of all, understand that while I'll try to get the facts as close to possible, that isn't going to guarantee I'm right all (or even close to all) of the time. So if I get some Alchemy fact wrong in this, there's no need to get all upset about it.

CHECKMATE  
_chapter one: human transmutation_

ROY MUSTANG did not enjoy paperwork.

In all honesty, that phrase didn't even come close to conveying just how much he despised the daily chore. Yes, it was a mandatory part of his rank. Yes, it really was just skimming a couple of phrases and signing or initialing a page. Yes, he did had hardworking subordinates (though really it was just 'subordinate') that helped him more than really necessary. But really, couldn't these people do anything on their own?

You didn't see any smart paperwork like permission to issue military miniskirts for women, but you did see useless stuff like permission to change the recipe in the kitchen from bean soup to tomato soup. Really, he doubted the soldiers would notice any difference, even if it were pinapple and plum soup it'd still be bland and milky.

Riza'd told him to suck it up and get to it or she'd shoot him. Damn. The only woman he really wanted had to be a trigger-happy sharp shooter with eyes so sharp they could probably track down whether his eye'd twitched or not.

Still, her advice didn't do much good, but Havoc's did, at least.

Leave to Havoc to find the one good thing about paperwork. Yes, paperwork was an excuse to call his favourite blonde _female _lieutenant to stride over to his desk, peer over his shoulder and explain to him what this clause or that phrase had meant. Or to ask her whether he was supposed to signature or initial the form. He did so love it when she rolled her eyes, hands propping on her hips, pointing to some tiny font in masses of more tiny phrases that told him to, yes indeed, sign the page.

Sometimes he wondered how, even with her incredibly accurate eyes, she managed to catch even the smallest mistakes or flaw in his work. Fuery had boldly announced (while she was absent from the room, of course) that maybe she was from another planet, causing all men in the department to cackle slightly when she returned. Of course, she'd quickly glared around the room, silencing immediately all the little smirks, except for his, of course.

Despite her threats, he knew she never really would hurt him. Obviously, since her mission was to protect him, hurting him would be counter-productive, and the day Riza Hawkeye did anything counter-productive by choice, he would dye his hair pink.

Indeed, that was how obscure the idea was to him.

Anyhow, back to the paperwork. Roy was working undiligently on his paperwork when the door to the apartment crashed open in a wave of short blond alchemist, distantly, he could hear Al's attempt, "Brother! Wait! You can't just storm in there like-"

"Shut up, Al!" Fullmetal glowered, striding to the front of Roy's desk, Roy himself, leaning back into his chair, rather relieved to have an excuse to take a break from the horrid stuff cluttering his desk, "What's up, Shortmetal? Still short as ever, I see-"

"I found the secret to human transmutation." Ed seethed, voice laced with disdain.

Roy's smile vanished in an instant. No, this was not the kind of interruption from paperwork that he desired. From one bad thing to something worse. Clearly from the teenagers contours the secret wasn't one that would solve all their problems. He almost gaped at the Alchemist before him, "Wh-what?"

"_I said I found the damn secret to human transmutation!" _Ed growled.

--

_Author's Note: _Rather short filler chapter, but in any case, I hope you enjoyed it. :).  
Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.


	2. Equivalent Exchange

_Disclaimer: _No, I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

_Summary: _Slow and steady wins the race, but only when you're incredibly lucky. When Ed discovers the secret to Human Transmutation, Roy and his team's mission of reaching the top is thrown off track. But when the higher ups, and even the Fuhrer get involved, the situation is quickly thrown into disorder and turned into a struggle for power.

_Author's Note: _Here's the next chapter for those who read the first one. (: And for new readers too, of course.

CHECKMATE  
_chapter two: equivalent exchange_

--

"_I said I found the damn secret to human transmutation!" _Ed growled.

"The secret to human transmutation..?" Roy stuttered again, his chalky eyes dusting over.

Al, at last catching up with his brother in a rather noisy fashion, turned to face the Colonel, "Colonel Mustang, perhaps you could discuss it with brother in a separate room?" he questioned. Roy, sending a curious glance around the room-well, there was Hawkeye, Havoc and Fuery in the room, none of which he wouldn't trust with his life-"I don't see any reason we should not reveal your research here."

"You don't understand, _Colonel_," Edward muttered, grimacing, "Some things just cannot be revealed so dramatically."

Comtemplating Edward's uncharacteristic seriousness, and indifference to his his earlier jab hadn't affected the blonde, he decided, "Yes, yes," he murmured, hazy eyes and tired voice, "But perhaps, Hawkeye could-"

"No one. Just you." Roy, glancing up at Al's, well, _order_, nodded, "Okay. Fine."

--

Closing the door behind him, Roy ran a gloved hand through his matted hair, shifting his bangs out of his eyes. Turning to Edward, he sighed, "Okay. What's this secret, and why can't I let Hawkeye and the others in on it?"

_"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. In order to obtain, something of equal value must be lost." _recited Al grimly.

"Yes, Alphonse, I am quite aware of that Alchemic Law. I am an Alchemist, in case you hadn't noticed. Really, boys, we just uncovered our trump card on Bradley and you barge in with your news, if you have no intentions of revealing the secret to me, I really should be getting back to-"

"It's wrong." stated Ed.

"What?"

"Human Transmutation. It doesn't follow the law of Equivalent Exchange." Ed muttered, "The price of bringing someone back from the grave, is _three _lives. Eight years ago, an Alchemist called the Sun Alchemist was issued by the Fuhrer to conduct research on Human Transmutation. Originally, the believed one life was enough to bring someone back from the grave. Logically, one life would fulfil the law of Equivalent Exchange, but when they finally tried it for the first time, not only the life of the sacrifice, but the life of the Sun Alchemist and one of the Generals standing nearest to one point of the array were taken. However, it was a success, and one of the military advisors that they had wished to bring back came back from the dead."

"No side effects, no homunculus counterparts, he was a perfect human, had all his human memories, was exactly the same as when he was human. He had no memories of Death, The Gate, anything from the afterlife. It's as if he just went to sleep for a while. A perfect Human Transmutation. But three lives was the price."

Sighing, Roy's face paled, "Three lives to bring back one. Is the Fuhrer still continuing the Human Transmutation experiments?"

"That's when this story gets confusing," continued Al, "Apparently, after that experiment, the military discontinued the Human Transmutation research. They seemed to just abandon the research. Maybe they decided the life of three wasn't worth the sacrifice to get back one."

"But that isn't the type of game the military plays, especially not Bradley, they had plenty of prisoners, particularly after Ishbal. Knowing them, they would have jumped at the chance." Roy muttered, "Why would they..?"

"But we could bring them back." he head swivelled around to meet Ed's haunted eyes-murderer's eyes-"We could bring them back."

"Maes, we could bring Maes back.." Roy moaned, "Elysia and Gracia would be so happy.. and your mother, Hawkeye-sensei for Riza. It would cost nine lives, but.."

"You see where I'm going with this. But we, we couldn't possibly ignore that we'd be taking away six other lives."

"No, no, we can't." Roy said, lips pursed and pained eyes, "We can't.."

"Colonel!" the door opened roughly, a concerned looking Havoc bursting through.

"Havoc, don't interrupt, didn't I tell you to keep working?"

"Cheif, it's Hawkeye, the Fuhrer's decided to transfer her to work as his secretary, she's just received the reassignment letter."

--

_Author's Note: _Hope you enjoyed that chapter, thanks to the reviewers and readers. (:  
Leave a review with your thoughts.


	3. Stolen Queen

_Disclaimer: _No, I don't own FMA.

_Summary: _Slow and steady wins the race, but only if you're incredibly lucky. When Ed discovers the secret to Human Transmutation, Roy and his team's mission of reaching the top is thrown off track. But when the higher ups, and even the Fuhrer get involved, the situation is quickly thrown into disorder and turned into a struggle for power.

_Author's Note: _Thank you for reveiwing/reading. On to the chapter..

CHECKMATE  
_chapter three: stolen queen_

_--_

"Cheif, it's Hawkeye, the Fuhrer's decided to transfer her to work as his secretary, she's just received the reassignment letter."

Striding his way back to the main office, he glanced at a concerned looking Lieutenant Hawkeye, "First Lieutenant Hawkeye, what happened?" he asked rather tightly. They had worked hard to keep their feelings for one another a secret. After Ishbal, they had played the act of nothing more than simply a Colonel and his subordinate. The Fuhrer couldn't have possibly discovered their secret, but then again, he couldn't be transferring Hawkeye just by coincidence.

Looking him in the eye boldly, "The Fuhrer has transfered me to serve as his secretary by tomorrow morning. He apologizes for the short notice, but as his current secretary has left," at that, she gave him a look, he immediately reading it as her suspicion that his secretary had not, in fact, just 'left', "but he is in great need for a secretary, and hopes that you understand."

Tight-lipped, he nodded, "Yes, tell the Fuhrer I understand when you meet him."

"Yes sir!" she saluted smartly, eyes ringing out her worry and just tempting him to take her in his arms, stroke her hair and reassure her that everything'd be all right. How long it had been since he'd held her. The last time had been in Ishbal, the one time he'd made love to her right at the end of the war, but that was the night they'd promised to hold off their relationship until he was Fuhrer and the issues of Amestris had been settled.

He'd almost chosen to just live a normal life with her, without the troubles of fighting the Military. But he'd been young and dream-filled, and she had been younger and brimming with the same passion, there was no way he could have denied her eyes.

So here they were, his queen being taken away from him by the Fuhrer. So here they were.

--

He pushed open the door to his apartment roughly, infuriated.

Slamming the door behind him in the darkness of the crammed little apartment, he stepped in, not bothering much to open the door. Not remembering just how cluttered the little room, he tripped on a pile of Alchemy books, falling onto the floor with a '_thump_'.

"Dammit!" he yelled, picking up the nearest book, he threw it towards the wall in his anger, "Dammit, dammit, _dammit_! How _dare _he! Not her. God, why did it have to be her?" he brought a swinging fist down to crash upon something, he wasn't sure what, refusing to acknowledge the tears flowing down his porcelain face.

"God _dammit!" _

--

He stared at the doorbell for ten minutes, at least. He'd decided that he didn't care what they thought, now that she wasn't actually working directly behind him, now that she was already straight in the jaws of the shark, there wasn't anything more they could do.

He didn't care. He hadn't cared. But now that the moment had presented itself, he wasn't so sure.

Riza was too close to the Fuhrer for safety, but while his staying away didn't guarantee her safety, it made her that little bit more protected.

"I- I can't see you yet, Riza. I swear I'll protect you, it's gonna be all right." hand resting on the door of her house, he was more than a little surprised when the door fell to emptiness, his hand then resting on opem air. "Oh." was all he could say.

Looking up from her feet to her candy cane eyes, which, to his surprise, were shimmering with wetness, he was more surprised when he felt a warm hand clutching at the front of his jacket, before she tossed herself into his arms, pulling him into her house. Standing there in vague shock, he closed the door behind them, feeling her latch onto him and letting his hands wander onto his shoulders.

Looking up with carmine eyes, she smiled childishly at him, "Um. Hi."

Wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close, he murmured into her hair, "I won't let you be stolen from me. You're my queen. Mine and mine alone."

--

_Author's Note: _Hm. Hope you enjoyed that chapter, and of course, reviews are much loved as always. (: And yes, we will be getting deeper into the plot of the story soon. Give it one or two chapters.


	4. Standing Stones

_Disclaimer: _No, I don't own FMA.

_Summary: _Slow and steady wins the race, but only if you're incredibly lucky. When Ed discovers the secret to Human Transmutation, Roy and his team's mission of reaching the top is thrown off track. But when the higher ups, and even the Fuhrer get involved, the situation is quickly thrown into disorder and turned into a struggle for power.

_Author's Note: _Um. There is an itsy bitsy teensy weensy hint of smut at the beginning of the chapter, but I honestly don't think the rating needs to be bumped up to a M, but if anyone does, let me know and I will gladly change it.

CHECKMATE  
_chapter four: standing stones_

_--_

Roy Mustang was not used to waking up with women beside him in bed. Despite the fact that he constantly reminded all the officers working with him that he had a date most nights and that Havoc and the men assumed he got laid every night, he really didn't date that often, and when he did, the farthest he would go with a girl would be a kiss, if they were lucky.

And Roy never went on more than a few dates with any specific woman. They were not Riza. They never could be. The thought of spending more time with any woman other than her was unthinkable. None of them could ever be brought up to the level she was in his mind.

So when Roy woke up to cushions that were not his own and hair and warmth splayed over his chest that _definitely _were not his own, the first thought that ran through his mind had been, _Oh shit, did I drink too much? _Then the scent of his favourite blonde Lieutenant (he had no clue just how many nights he had lain awake, recalling her scent, her skin, her carmine eyes) had registered in his mind and his line of thought had changed more to a, _Oh God, I'm in heaven.._

Then she had laughed, and he cracked open an eye to glance at her, "What's wrong, Roy? And here I thought you were very experienced in this field considering the amount of times you've gone out with women."

He rolled over, pinning her grinningly to the bed, happy to settle his chin in the hollow of her collarbone, "Haven't slept with any woman since with you, in Ishbal." he murmured into her skin, taking her small hand in his under the covers.

At this, she glared playfully at him, "Really, Roy. I distinctly heard that secretary, you know, that brunette you so love flirting with, stating boldly in the washroom that the night with you she'd spent had been absolutely _incredible_." her tone was teasing, but he could pick out the underlying irritation in her voice. He turned her eyes up to hers.

"I haven't gotten laid since that one night in Ishbal with you," he said, frowning, "I promised you that you'd be my one and only, remember?"

Eyes completely serious, he stared up at her before another thought hit him, "Wait. Have you been with another man?"

Laughing, she drew him close, hugging him like a teddybear, "No. Do you think I'd have time with all the unfinished paperwork you give me? Honestly, Roy. But really," she murmured, "I'm glad you haven't been with another woman."

"I promised you, didn't I? Now we _really_ have to get out of bed or else you will be very, very late for your first day working under the Fuhrer," he stated, not liking at all the thought of her working so close to their enemy.

--

Pouring himself a cup of coffee and her a cup of orange juice, despite popular belief, he knew she detested the taste of coffee, he hummed quietly, smiling at her as she walked into the kitchen. "Here you go, cup of orange juice."

Taking the cup from him, she turned in his direction, "You know, Roy. Me working under the Fuhrer isn't such a bad thing, I mean, I could possibly get some information from him.. and get it back to you, right?"

He frowned, "Riza Hawkeye. You are _not _going to do anything that could possibly get you under suspicion and give him some excuse to tear you apart." he said, without thinking. Although she was unendingly loyal to him, the one thing she could not stand, and he knew this, was him ordering her because he was afraid on her behalf. On her side of logic, if he got to do irrational irresponsible and utterly unsafe things for her, she would do the same for him.

He grimaced when she frowned, "Roy. I am not useless. I can take care of myself."

"I know, Riza. But.. be careful, will you?"

--

They ran through the routine, he often showing up at her doorstep after he finished work, sometimes she'd be done earlier than him and sometimes he would be. Regardless, he let himself in, and they would spend the night together.

Two weeks from when she'd started, he woke up to find her already in the kitchen. "Hey Rize."

"Roy, I've been thinking, why haven't you brought Maes back? I mean, since Ed's discovered the secret, why don't you bring him back? I know you'd be-"

"Rize. Don't. Just don't mention that, please."

She looked up at him, startled by his harsh tone, "Why? Don't you-"

"Just shut up about it, Riza." he glared at her. Really, he knew he was being a jerk, but the knowledge that he could bring back Maes was painful enough. "I have to leave early today, see you," he commented lifelessly, stepping out the door, knowing he was an idiot and wondering what he would do with the extra hour he would have to spend at the office with no one there yet.

--

"Fullmetal," he yelled, spotting the Alchemist as he walked by, "Could you come in here for a second."

"Edward, Alphonse," he greeted them.

"Colonel." they, or rather, Al, responded before nudging Ed in the ribs.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing, brother! Your suit of armour hurts!"

"Boys, please. Ed. About the _research _you've uncovered, I'm going to reveal it to my lady friend, _Elizabeth, _is that all right with you?" he stated with what he hoped was a casual tone, hoping against hell Ed would understand.

Fortunately, the Alchemist blew out a breath, "Pft. Do what you want, I don't care."

--

"Riza? Are you home yet?" peering around the house, he muttered, "Guess not." Settling himself on a couch. Peeling off his jacket, he settled down on a couch in just his boxers and a white dress shirt. He let himself drift off to sleep to wait until she got home.

--

Groaning, Roy muttered, pulling on his military pants before dragging himself to the door and yanking it open, "Hello- Havoc? What're you-?"

"Colonel, the Fuhrer's team working on the Scar case (A/N: Just so you know, this story isn't exactly going to follow the manga timeline or the anime though it will include parts of it..) got caught in a skirmish."

Laughing, Roy stares at Havoc, "I don't care about Fuhrer's mission team. This is all the better for us if he loses more men."

"Sir, you don't understand. The Fuhrer's team did not go to find Scar, Scar came to find the Fuhrer in his office. And Hawkeye-"

He slammed the door in Havoc's face.

_Author's Note: _There's the chapter.. read & review please. (:


	5. Which Pawns to Move

_Disclaimer: _No, I don't own FMA.

_Summary: _Slow and steady wins the race, but only if you're incredibly lucky. When Ed discovers the secret to Human Transmutation, Roy and his team's mission of reaching the top is thrown off track. But when the higher ups, and even the Fuhrer get involved, the situation is quickly thrown into disorder and turned into a struggle for power.

_Author's Note: _Yes, it was mean of me to leave the last chapter just hanging like that, and if I wasn't the one writing this story I'd probably hate me, too. (:

CHECKMATE  
_chapter five: which pawns to move_

_--_

He slammed the door in Havoc's face.

Striding quietly to her room, he bustled around the messy place, picking objects up randomly and putting them in their respective shelves. It was half an hour later that he found there was nothing left to clean. Standing forlornly in her kitchen, his breathing whispered in and out of his lungs. Hands shaking, he picked up a glass and filled it with water before bringing it to his lips.

Sipping the clear liquid, his mouth was instantly filled with the scent of blood. Spitting it out, he sputtered, refusing to think of the tears running down his face or the reason they were.

"Dammit!"

Launching the cup with all his strength against the wall, he watched as the glass cup split into little pieces, scattering all over the floor. The glass glimmering in the dim light of the kitchen, he bent down to his knees, attempting to retrieve the shards with shaking hands. Failing, he curled his hands into fists, unknowing of the sharp edges cutting into his palm.

Wheeling around to his feet and running to her bedroom, he threw open her walk-in closet, collapsing into the piles of her clothes. He never did get to see her wear any of those dresses, only that blasted blue military uniform.

"Hawkeye. Hawkeye.." he muttered, "Riza, Riza.. Riza." The last thing he saw before his vision diminished into black was one of her dresses, the colour he thought could never be replicated. Her red eyes, the only shade of red that did not remind him of blood.

--

When he awoke the world was a blurry mess of colours and sparks. For a moment all he could do was rest his head on her clothes and breathe in her scence before he fell back to sleep.

He wasn't sure how many days he spent like that, weaving in an out of sleep and reality, maybe he spent all those days in between the two states, not awake but not asleep. Once he was sure he'd seen her, young and sparkling and radiant in her innocence. He'd tried to reach her but she'd run away from him, which he found to be absolutely insane. Riza never ran away from him. Not her. Not his Riza.

She would never run from him, so why was she running from him now?

--

"Havoc, is the Colonel still in there?" Ed muttered, gesturing morbidly towards Lieutenant Hawkeye's room. He'd walked into the room, fully intent on pulling Mustang out and slapping some sense into the man, but if he'd thought Havoc, prominent cheekbones and taut skin, Roy was the mirror imiage of Death.

Fuming and storming into the room, he'd seen the Alchemist, so usually composed with his unwavering little Lieutenant standing like his shadow beside him, he'd walked in on Roy, unmoving, darkly pale and bearing the eyes of the Dead.

"Yeah, still brooding and sulking. When I walked in, he looked right at me, asked me why Riza keeps slipping like water out of his grasp." Havoc replied, casually popping another cigar into his mouth, though his anxiousness was easy to see.

Ed had walked walked back out of the room seeing Roy like that, not knowing what to think of it.

"Roy doesn't _brood_ when it comes to Hawkeye."

--

When he picked himself up, he stared non-commitically at his torn palms before stumbling out of the room. He turned to face Havoc and Edward, who until now he had not been aware had been in the house. Pushing the words roughly past his hoarse mouth, he coughed before saying scratchily.

"I'm going to bring her back."

_Author's Note: _(: There's that chapter, I don't particularly think this chapter really was reassuring either, but. :D.


	6. Bishop

_Disclaimer: _No, I don't own FMA.

_Summary: _Slow and steady wins the race, but only if you're incredibly lucky. When Ed discovers the secret to Human Transmutation, Roy and his team's mission of reaching the top is thrown off track. But when the higher ups, and even the Fuhrer get involved, the situation is quickly thrown into disorder and turned into a struggle for power.

_Author's Note: _Eer. Yeah. Sorry for the slow updates, starting highschool is a drag. Also, I realise the chapter title has absolutely nothing to do with the chapter contents.

CHECKMATE  
_chapter six: bishop_

_--_

"I'm going to bring her back."

They hadn't done anything to stop him as Roy strided out the door, returning only a few minutes later with two blue eyed women and a young man. They had not stopped him as he picked up a piece of chalk and carefully outlined the array onto the cement floor of Hawkeye's little fitness training room. They did not even stop him as he threw the three sacrifices to the ground on their designated areas on the array.

How could they stop him when, in their own minds, they had been considering the same thing he had been? In all reality, the only reason they were not the ones to do it themselves was that they didn't want the extra blood on their hands.

No, they did not stop him. He did. Hands wavering inches from the drawn Alchemy circle, they whimperings of the sacrifices were not lost to his ears. "It doesn't matter." he murmured, more to console himself than anyone else, "They're prostitutes, they do not deserve to live." That one more to convince himself than anything.

It was true that they were not the purest of the human race, but since when had his mind ever obeyed cold hard logic? If it had, there would have been no use in fighting the government in the first place.

Ed had long since turned away, resigning himself to the confines of the Lieutenant's room, away from the stricken Fire Alchemist's voiced ramblings.

Havoc stared on with ashen eyes.

--

"What's wrong, Mustang? And here we all thought you loved you little blonde toy." His eyes whipped to the door of the room. He had heard the front door open, but he'd assumed it had been Havoc or Fullmetal leaving the premises. Still, he was more than surprised to find Fuhrer Bradley himself, a number of military personnel and even a couple of trained Alchemists standing poised at the door. "Still, I thank you, Boy. (Yes, I meant to type 'Boy' and not 'Roy'.) Now we have the Human Transmutation formula."

His hissed 'Bradley' came out hoarse, and unknowingly he shifted his body to stand in front of his sacrifices, blocking them of any stray bullets they might shoot.

"Though I do wonder, what would have happened if you had tried to bring back someone already alive?"

It was then that one of the soldiers threw forth a body at him, and he realising that Hawkeye, though ill-looking and pale, was quite very much alive. It was also then that he realized that Havoc was standing solemn eyed, head lowered at the right hand side of the Fuhrer.


	7. White to Black

_Disclaimer: _No, I don't own FMA.

_Summary: _Slow and steady wins the race, but only if you're incredibly lucky. When Ed discovers the secret to Human Transmutation, Roy and his team's mission of reaching the top is thrown off track. But when the higher ups, and even the Fuhrer get involved, the situation is quickly thrown into disorder and turned into a struggle for power.

_Author's Note: _Thank you to all the reviewers in the past chapter, and thank you to all the readers as well! (: I should probably update my other stories.. soon. And as one of the reviewers pointed out that Roy would have checked to see if Riza was really dead. I didn't want to write a filler chapter and I thought it was kind of a given that Bradley had hidden her somewhere so that Roy would have assumed her to be dead. But in any case, thank you for pointing that out, sorry if that caused any confusion for the other readers.

CHECKMATE  
_chapter seven: white to black_

_--_

"_Havoc._" he growled, throat constricted, his voice coming out scratchier than he intended and his tone desperate.

"Havoc, I willl leave him to you." he was partially conscious of Bradley and the rest of his soldiers leaving her house, having copied the array. Finally turning to her, and pulling his blonde haired First Lieutenant into his arms, all the while glaring at Havoc.

"Why did you do it?" he muttered, breathing in her scent, thankfully alive. "You knew she was never dead, didn't you-"

"I didn't know! I didn't know she was alive, but-"

"-I could have brought her back."

"You wouldn't have," replied Havoc angrily, "You wouldn't have, and you know it." His head whipped up, meeting the gaze of his subordinate, Roy glared at him, saying "Would you have done it? We have enough blood stained on our hands! As much as she means to me, in the real balance of things, she is just one person! Those sacrifices were to others what she is to me. What do you expect of me, dammit! _What is it that you want of me_! Do you not think I love her?"

"You were not the only one who loved her, you never were!" replied Havoc, his voice bitterly contrite, "You weren't.. he told me they would have brought her back. They aren't like you, though. They don't care whose lives they disposed of, they would have really brought her back without a second thought if it worked out to their advantage. They would have sacrificed extra lives willingly. Maybe not, but. He, Bradley, he has gifts, a way of twisting thoughts in a person's head and I.."

"You risked her life." he growled.

"And you would have lost her life!" black-blue eyes clashed against icey blue ones, Havoc growled, "You _know _the risks you put her in! You know it! And yet, yet, you still allow her to throw away her life for you!"

"Do you think I do not love her?"

"No! I mean, I know you do, but, she is so.. she _cannot _just throw her life away for your dreams, noble as they are! She could have had any future! She is not like us." Havoc's voice took on a pleading tone, "She did not have to be pulled into this unpleasant business, this was the only way to take her out of it. If Bradley had brought her back to life, he would not have just given her back to you, obviously. He would have sent her faraway! He could take her memory of us, of _this_! She could have had the future she deserves!"

He picked himself out, and despite what his mind wanted to tell himself, the truth in Havoc's words did not pass from his consciousness.

"I am a selfish man, Havoc. I would do _anything_, to keep her by my side."

Not the first time, he wondered just which side he was playing for; white or black.

_Author's Note: _Er. Lots of dialogue in that chapter.. anyway! Read and review! (And hopefully enjoy. :D)


End file.
